Desalination – Reverse Osmosis

Desalination – Reverse Osmosis

Just around 98% of all of the Earth’s water is located in the oceans in the form of undrinkable saltwater. As the human population continues to increase exponentially, drinkable water becomes more and more scarce and as a result, valuable. One method that could potentially reverse this trend is desalination, or the de-salting of ocean water into drinkable water.

Water desalination is already being used in more than 100 countries around the world, especially in arid areas such as the Middle East. Using reverse osmosis, humans can separate the salt from ocean water and transform it into fresh drinking water. There are drawbacks to using desalination, however. The main drawback being that it is very costly to desalinate ocean water, and it is still much cheaper to tap into fresh water resources. Another drawback is that it can harm ocean wildlife and the coastal ecosystem; the environmental impact of desalinization plants is still being explored. While desalinating all of our water seems like an impractical task at this point, who knows how far the technology will have come in a few years? The process of desalination has been around since the 1960’s, but it is already much more efficient than it was back then.

The process of reverse osmosis doesn’t just turn ocean water into drinking water, but it can be used to turn any kind of water into drinking water, and it is also a great way to filter your water. Shiloh Water Systems has been providing reverse osmosis in Oregon for more than a decade. Shiloh offers the best water purification Oregon has to offer, just contact us to set up a free water test!